metametameta

It is with a sorrowful and guilt-ridden heart that I pen to you these words, words that I thought I never would myself utter: I am now the owner of an Xbox 360. It entered my home two months prior, and was gifted to me by my very sweet and kindly mother as a Christmas gift. However, that is not to say that this new console was unexpected or undesired; rather, I directly asked her for one, and had been saving money to purchase one had she not complied with my Christmas wishes. The blame for allowing a new Microsoft console to enter my home lies entirely on my shoulders.

The claws of the Lich King are cold, barbed, and have sunk themselves deeply into the flesh of Dear Seris. That, at least, is the way that I like to think of the situation, and would more fully embrace were I a lore fanatic; but I am not, and recognize rather that those claws have sunk so figuratively into my soul so as to be almost literal.cut deeper, keep reading>>

Sitting down to collect my thoughts on EA’s FIFA 10 on my couch with a 40 of Miller Lite at my side and my favorite Windir album on the stereo, I couldn’t help but think of how alien the situation sounded in the context of thinking about a predominantly European game/sport.

As a general rule, I dislike boss battles. Mostly, I dislike them because they feel so disjointed from the rest of the game experience, and final, endgame-level encounters often seem to violate this more than standard bosses – especially if the game doesn’t have boss encounters in the traditional sense.cut deeper, keep reading>>

As part of my videogame analysis and criticism course, this week’s readings focused on violence, racism, and sex in video games. Two of the readings, which focus on violence and sex, were mostly from the mouths of game developers; they can be found here. Although these three issues are clearly contentious and controversial in gaming – from all perspectives, including that of the player, creator, and parent of the player – none of the readings, and indeed almost none of the readings I’ve done in this field, actually relate to how these games view women. Predominantly, I’m finding, as sexual objects, often devoid of the personality found in their male counterparts in the same game.cut deeper, keep reading>>

So, DiRT 2 was pushed back so Codemasters can make it much more graphically awesome. While I don’t generally care about racing games .. the tech demos make me wish I did. And do. Two of the tech demos beneath the cut.cut deeper, keep reading>>

Jack Monahan’s blog, Gausswerks Design Reboot, is a wonderful internets-finding of a great idea followed with wonderful execution. The idea here is to take concepts and ideas found in previously-released games, and breathe some fresh life into them – and his life-breathing is a wondrous thing, presenting fascinating windows into sequels of what could be.cut deeper, keep reading>>

by way of RPS, whom got it by way of this guy’s Twitter, whom may or may not have found it from somewhere else entirely elsewhere. I don’t know! Here is what I do know: that the chair can beat the pyro! Awesome video fun time below.

Cross-posted from a Videogame Analysis & Criticism class piece.
I’m of the opinion that, if we’re going to use a scoring method for game reviews, then there should be some level of consistency among them. Whether this consistency occurs in the writings of an individual over the course of several pieces, or if it’s adopted by a group of us is something that I think is up to individual consideration. So then, some thoughts: